


Slow and Steady

by AustinB



Series: Tumblr Prompts [8]
Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-10
Updated: 2015-07-10
Packaged: 2018-04-08 15:55:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4311321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AustinB/pseuds/AustinB
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He’s wearing a smile that’s half self-satisfied and half concerned and the combination is dizzying.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Slow and Steady

**Author's Note:**

> There's a fanart on tumblr by the-blonde-hurricane that this is based on and if someone could kindly tell me how to insert links into these chapter notes i will link to it. It makes me feel so old that I can't figure this out. I swear I'm only 26.   
> (For now I'll link to it in the story text, since there's a helpful link icon that i DO know how to use)

She’s blowing her nose when there’s a knock on the door, so she’s not sure she really heard it. She’s certainly not expecting anyone. Karen pauses with the tissue against her face, and sure enough, there’s another knock, followed by, “Karen, it’s Matt.”

It’s a testament to her state that she doesn’t even have the energy to panic. Truthfully, the last thing she needs is for the guy she’s crushing on to witness the mess she is right now. She hasn’t showered in two days; has barely moved from the couch, in fact. She can finally breathe out of her nose again, but her throat is so raw from coughing that she sounds a little mannish. The air in her apartment is stale and she uses up her last stores of strength to open the living room window on her way to the door. She thinks about swiping the pile of tissues from the coffee table into the trash, but groans at the thought of bending down. It’s not like he’s going to see them anyway.

She feels a sneeze coming on as she opens the door so she turns away and ducks her face into her elbow.

“Bless you,” Matt says from the doorway.

“Ugh,” she replies, heading back to the living room in search of the tissue box. It’s jammed under the pillow she’d brought out from her bedroom and she uses the last two from the box as delicately as she can.

“Foggy said you weren’t feeling well,” Matt says.

“Yeah, sorry I couldn’t make it in today,” she says, sitting heavily on the couch and leaning back into the cushions—still warm from her body heat. “Figured I better not spread this around. You probably shouldn’t even be—“ she finally looks up at him. He’s closed the door behind him and is standing in her living room holding a takeout bowl she’s pretty sure is full of chicken noodle soup and a mylar balloon. He’s wearing a smile that’s half self-satisfied and half concerned and the combination is dizzying. Or maybe that’s just her overwhelmed immune system.

“I brought you a balloon,” he says, stepping forward and extending the string to her. She reaches up and takes it automatically. “[It’s got a turtle on it.](http://stuckylikeglue.tumblr.com/post/120280763602/the-blonde-hurricane-i-know-lots-of-people) I think,” he says, flashing a brief smirk.

It does indeed have a turtle on it, with the words Slow and Steady Wins the Race. She’s not sure what that means in this context, but it doesn’t really matter.

“Oh, and soup,” Matt says, holding the styrofoam bowl out in both hands. Karen takes that too. “Chicken noodle,” he clarifies, as if she wouldn’t take it if it were anything less.

“Thank you,” she says, still on auto-pilot. She’s going to have to think about this when her brain is a little less fuzzy.

She’s going to have to think about this a lot.

“Well, I’ll let you rest,” Matt says after a beat of silence. He shifts his weight, looking mildly uncomfortable. Karen wonders if she missed a social cue in her hazy state, or if it’s just continuing the trend of having no idea what the hell he’s thinking ever.

She thanks him again and he lets himself out. Karen eats the soup and sleeps for another day and a half. When she wakes on Wednesday morning feeling 100% again, she wonders if she dreamt the whole thing. But the balloon is still meandering around her living room, hovering a few inches below the ceiling as it slowly deflates.

She doesn’t tie it to anything, so it floats into the kitchen sometimes and surprises her. When it goes totally flat, she lets the rest of the air out, folds it up and tucks it in her wallet.

Later that week, she opens her wallet to pay the delivery guy for their lunch and the balloon crinkles against the dollar bills. Karen tucks her wallet under her arm and brings the bags of food into the conference room, where Matt and Foggy are working.

Matt tips his face up to her as she sets out their food and he shoots her a secret sort of smile. Like they have an inside joke between the two of them and she just referenced it. She blushes, and if his fingers brush over hers as she slides his sandwich over to him, well, she’s sure it’s accidental.


End file.
